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WHAT WAS 

ABRAHAM UNCOLN'S 

RELIGION ? 

By JNO. W. STARR, Jr. 



EXCERPT FROM THE MAGAZINE OF HISTORY, 
January, 1912 



But ten copies of this Article were issued separately in this form, 
of which this is No. _.5s?. 



17 "7 



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THE MAGAZINE OF HISTORY 

WITH NOTES AND QUERIES 
Vol. XV. JANUARY, 1912 No. i 




CONTENTS 

FACSIMILE LETTER OF MARY fVASHINGTON TO GEORGE WASH- 
INGTON Frontispiece 

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF THE REBELLION .... 

(Third Paper) (The Late) CoLONEL LeGrand B. Cannon i 

THE ROMANCE OF GENEALOGY 

(Chapter VIII-X) Eugene F. McPike 

WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELIGION? 

John W. Starr, Jr. 18 
\ Rev. John W. Hill 32 

AN INCIDENT ON THE COAST OF MAINE IN 1861 .... 

(The Late) Major Charles' H. Boyd 38 

IN PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S KITCHEN . . James A. Scrymser 42 

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S SERMON .... George Stewart 44 

LETTERS ON THE SIEGE OF BOSTON 

Colonel Horace N. Fisher 47 

GREYSLAER: A ROMANCE OF THE MOHAWK 

(Chapter XXIX Concluded) Charles Fenno Hoffman 53 




Entered as Second-class matter, March i, 1905, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y. 
Act of Congress March 3, 1879. 



WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELIGION? 

*''^ TT THAT was Abraham Lincoln's religion?" This question 
%/ ^7 has long been a topic for discussion — nay even bitter con- 
troversy, and instead of being settled, it seems to have be- 
come more and more a subject for debate among those interested in 
the life of the Martyr-President. 

He has been claimed by the most orthodox Christians as holding 
their tenets of faith, as well as by the Unitarians. Infidels, Freethinkers 
and Deists assert that he was one of their number, while Spiritualists 
contend that he looked with favor on their phenomena. Several times 
the query has arisen as to whether in his early life he was not a Catholic; 
he has been called a Universalist, a materialist and a rationalist, while 
some writers say that he can only be compared to the Jewish prophets 
of old, one author within the last few years having published a book 
which tends to show him a prophet inspired of God. 

Probably the first attempt of any significance to determine his re- 
ligious opinions was made in J. G. Holland's biography, issued in 1865, 
shortly after the assassination. In this Dr. Holland claimed him to 
have been a Christian, basing his assertion chiefly on the testimony of 
Newton Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction in Illinois at 
that time, who had given him a minute account of an interview held 
with Lincoln during the Presidential campaign of i860. This has often 
been referred to as the " famous Bateman interview." 

In 1870 the Toledo Index printed a lengthy communication from 
W. H. Herndon, giving an extended interpretation of what he con- 
sidered had been his law partner's Freethought views. This letter has 
recently been reprinted in the Tnithseeker, a New York " freethought " 
publication. 

Two years later Ward H. Lamon's biography appeared, following 
the line of Herndon's reasoning as regarded Lincoln's religious belief, 
or rather lack of it. But as Lamon also had been a law-partner of 
Lincoln, as well as his Marshal at Washington during his Presidency, 
the general tone of his work, especially in analyzing Lincoln's character, 



4U* '»»» 



WHAT \VAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELIGION 1 9 

and more particularly the disparaging manner in which he referred to 
his old friend's religious views, was for a long time regarded by Lincoln 
lovers as inexplicable. However, comparatively recently it has been 
proven conclusively that this book was in reality penned by Chauncey 
F. Black, a son of Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney-General in Buchanan's 
Cabinet and a political opponent of Lincoln. 

This work was extensively reviewed in all the current magazines, 
being severely criticised in Scribner's* of which Dr. Holland was editor. 

About a year later f the same magazine contained a lecture by Rev. 
James A. Reed on " The Later Life and Religious Sentiments of Abra- 
ham Lincoln," written out at the request of Dr. Holland. This lecture 
was printed as a reply to Herndon and Lamon. 

Hon. Isaac N. Arnold's Life of Abraham Lincoln, wherein is given 
a rather extended exposition of what the author considered were the 
views of the great Emancipator on the topic under discussion, and in 
which he is made to appear as a Christian in the fullest sense of the 
word, was published in 1885. 

Until his "Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life" 
appeared in 1890, Herndon wrote and lectured much on this subject, 
and was also engaged in several controversies. Chapter 14 of his work 
is an epitome of his previous expressions along that line. 

" Was Lincoln a Spiritualist," by Nettie C. Maynard was issued in 
1 89 1. In this the author takes the affirmative side. 

In 1893 occurred the controversy between Robert G. Ingersoll and 
General Charles H. T. Collis, the former maintaining that " Abraham 
Lincoln's religion was the religion of Voltaire and Paine," the latter 
denying it, and adducing evidence in support of his contention. This 
correspondence, with additional testimony, was published in pamphlet 
form in 1900 by General Collis. 

John E. Remsburg's Abraham Lincoln: JVas He a Christian?, after 
running serially in the Triithseekcr was issued in book form in 1893. 

* Scribner's Monthly, August 1872. 
■\lbid., July 1873. 



20 WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 

This evidence was intelligently collected and interestingly arranged, and 
aside from its rather polemical tone, makes very good reading. Rems- 
burg follows the line laid down by Herndon and Lamon. 

Orrin H. Pennell of the East Ohio Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church published in 1899 a booklet of sixty pages on The 
Religiotis Views of Abraham Lincoln, contending that he was an ortho- 
dox Christian in every particular. 

During the last few years several addresses and a few monographs 
dealing with the subject have appeared. All of them possess some 
merit, and it is understood that there are now in the course of prepara- 
tion, at least three more bearing on the same theme. One of the best 
of the later items is undoubtedly Major William H. Lambert's The 
Faith of Abraham Lincoln. 

Magazines and newspapers also have teemed with articles claim- 
ing this or that to have been his religion, and giving scores of anecdotes 
in support of each particular contention. One of the most interesting 
of the recent statements is The Conversion of Abraham Lincoln, by Rev. 
Edward L. Watson, in the Christian Advocate of November 11, 1909. 
This shows Lincoln to have been converted in good old Methodist style 
in 1839. 

About four years ago, the writer, — a collector of Lincolniana and 
a student of the life of Abraham Lincoln — conceived and acted upon 
the idea of writing to those of Lincoln's friends then known to be living, 
as well as the leading collectors and biographers, whose addresses could 
be procured, requesting them for their views on this question. In the 
majority of instances, the response has been most cordial. Many and 
varied opinions have been expressed. Among the most interesting are 
the accompanying statements, which are given as a hitherto unpublished 
contribution to the literature of the controversy. 

Probably the one who could speak with the most authority, who In 
all likelihood knew him better than any man then living, was Col. A. K. 
McClure of Philadelphia. He has written much of Abraham Lincoln 
in books, magazine and newspaper articles and the like, but I do not 
think that I have ever seen his opinions on this subject In print. The 



WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 21 

following Is from a letter received from him in 1908: " I have yours 
of the 8th inquiring whether I had any knowledge of Lincoln's religious 
belief, and especially as to his belief in the atonement. Anyone ex- 
amining Lincoln's writings must be profoundly impressed with his abso- 
lute reverence for and faith in God, and I had many times heard him 
speak of the Overruling Power of the nation and the world, but I cannot 
recall a single conversation on the subject of the Atonement. I always 
assumed from his evident high appreciation of Christianity that he had 
faith in the Atonement. I never heard him utter a sentence that indi- 
cated in any way want of faith in it. If he did not cherish such faith, 
it is quite likely that at some time or other he would have given some 
expression to his doubts on the subject. While I cannot give any per- 
sonal conversation as to Lincoln on the subject, I have never doubted 
his faith in Christianity. I do not know whether it was his purpose 
to join the church shortly before his death. He was a very reticent 
man, and I doubt whether if that had been his purpose he would have 
expressed it until he carried it into effect. I have seen the statements 
about him attending spiritualistic seances, but I do not credit them. He 
may have done so, but I am quite sure that he was not in any way 
unbalanced or affected by spiritualists." 

Mr. Gibson W. Harris, who was a student in Lincoln and Hern- 
don's law office in 1845-47, in a letter dated April 17, 1908, from Holly 
Hill, Florida, writes: " I do not recall a single Instance during my ac- 
quaintance with Abraham Lincoln, which commenced In 1840 and lasted 
until 1861 * * * wherein he gave expression to his religious views. 
I can therefore give you only my opinion of his beliefs and unbeliefs. 

He believed In a first great cause, a Creator. He did not believe 
In Christ as being the only Son of God; all men and women were his 
children. In this respect he was an Unitarian — a Unlversallst as far 
as a special place of punishment was reserved for the wicked. He was 
a Deist. The Chinese creed (If I may call it a creed) was his. ' God 
is one, religions are many; all mankind are brothers,' and he lived up 
to this creed. He never used profane language. He was not a mem- 
ber of any church or any secret order." 

Another law student of Lincoln and Herndon's was Mr. Henry B. 
Rankin, still living in Springfield, 111. Mr. Rankin writes, March 6, 



22 WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 

1911: "Your letter of inquiry of February 2ist was duly received. 
You ask, ' Do you consider Lincoln a Christian or a Deist? ' Most as- 
suredly I consider he was a Christian, as I understand Christianity — 
viz. The religion of Jesus Christ. 

Again: 'Do you think he attended Spiritualistic seances? Such 
a " think " is absolutely absurd to me as regards Mr. Lincoln from 1850 
to i860 (the period I was near him). He was not of the cast of mind 
attracted by occult things, and in those years was so thoroughly absorbed 
with great practical themes there could have been no room for such di- 
versions, if I may so name them. 

How he grew out of, above, and beyond all environments can 
never be accurately traced out without recognizing the Unseen Hand 
that guided all. No one realized this more, or relied on it in life than 
Mr. Lincoln did in his own. How fully his state papers reveal this." 

Mr. Horace White of New York, who reported Lincoln's speeches 
in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates in Illinois in 1858 and came to know him 
intimately, writes thus: " You ask whether I think that Abraham Lin- 
coln was a Christian. There are so many varieties of Christians in the 
world that the question is a difficult one to answer. In my younger 
days Unitarians and Universalists were not usually classed as Chris- 
tians in the community where I lived, although they went to church on 
Sunday and took the Bible as their principal guide. Now, however, 
I find that they are generally classed as Christians, although misguided 
ones. If you mean by the word Christian one who believes that Jesus 
Christ was the Son of God, born of a virgin, and that he was sent into 
the world to be an atonement for the sins of the inhabitants of the world 
by his own death on the cross, I do not believe that Abraham Lincoln 
was a Christian. If you mean by the word a man who takes Christ 
as an example of the conduct of life and sincerely takes up his cross and 
follows that example, I believe that he was a Christian. But I must add 
that he never said anything to me on the subject of religion, nor to any 
other persons in my presence. The opinion which I have expressed 
above is derived from other persons who were his near neighbors and 
intimate friends in Springfield, Illinois. I do not believe that Lincoln 
ever attended a Spiritualistic seance except as a matter of curiosity, as 



WHAT Vi^AS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELIGION 23 

I myself have done. I never heard him mention the subject, nor did 
I ever hear any intimate friend of his speak of him as inclined to a 
belief in Spiritualism." 

The following are extracts from two letters received from Col. 
William O. Stoddard, now living in Madison, N. J., who was one of 
President Lincoln's private secretaries and has written much of him : 
" The question, ' Was Lincoln an Infidel,' is one which could not be 
asked by one who knew him as I did, nor answered by one, like my old 
friend Herndon, of Springfield, who absolutely did not see him or cor- 
respond with him during the last four years of his life, the years of 
his greatest religious thought and development. It is a question I was 
called to answer on the platform, before the faculty and students of 
Drew Theological Seminary, and they declared entire approval. 
What is an ' infidel' ? My own theology you may imagine from the 
fact that I was, during many years, on the editorial staff of a leading 
religious journal and am an ordained Baptist deacon of the old style, 
leaving out the name of Calvin, of whom I am not a disciple. Now, 
the larger, much the larger part, of the nominal Christian world, Roman, 
Greek, or Protestant, would severely reject my Ideas. All BIbliolators 
would do so. But I cannot question the vital ' Christianity ' of a man 
who utterly believed In God; In his duty, before God, to his fellow men; 
In the teachings of the Scriptures; In the Christ as his example; and who 
could call upon the people as Lincoln did, to join him In prayer. In re- 
pentance for sin and in thanksgiving for Divine Mercy. 

You are young, now. Grow older In a deeper and more Christ- 
like understanding of the words, ' Through much tribulation do ye enter 
into the kingdom.' For that is the way, through duties done and trials 
and sufferings endured, that the spiritual life of Abraham Lincoln grew 
up — out of sight of the uninspired critics who never knew him at all. 
I knew him. 

He never had the slightest symptoms of ' Spiritism ' and was the 
last man to put in any of his really valuable time on ' Mediums ' of any 
sort." 

Mr. Paul Selby of Chicago, a personal friend of Lincoln, and 
author of Anecdotal Lincoln, writes April 22, 1908: "Replying to 



24 WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 

your letter of April I2th, I would state that my opinion in reference to 
Mr. Lincoln's religious views would be based first, on his personal char- 
acter and secondly, on his utterances, especially during his career as 
President. 

While he never adopted any sectarian creed or made a public pro- 
fession of faith, there is abundant evidence that he was a close student 
of the Bible, was a regular attendant on religious service, and in a 
general way recognized the truths of Christianity. What his belief was 
as to the doctrine of the Atonement, I could not say. From the day 
of his leaving Springfield in February, 1861, to assume the duties of 
President (and even at an earlier date) up to his last inaugural address, 
he frequently gave utterance to sentiments indicating his belief in the 
existence of a Supreme Being and even declared ' fondly do we hope, 
fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass 
away.' While opinions as to his religious faith, in the absence of any 
avowed creed, must remain largely conjectural, there is no doubt as to 
his personal integrity and unselfish patriotism. 

Whatever may have been the theories which Lincoln discussed in 
his youth and early manhood, and which brought upon him the charge 
that he was an ' infidel,' I think there is no conclusive evidence that 
they were grounded in his character, or adhered to in his later man- 
hood." 

In a letter of April 23, 1910, Mr. Selby adds: " While Mr. Lin- 
coln has been accorded a reputation by some writers as possessing a ten- 
dency to superstition, if he attended any seances conducted by Spirit- 
ualists, I think he was there merely as a curiosity seeker or investigator." 

Hon. Henry A. Melvin, Asssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of 
California, both of whose parents were near neighbors and intimate 
friends of Lincoln in Springfield before the war, in an interesting letter 
dated June 18, 1910, writes: " My father always spoke of Mr. Lincoln 
as a real Christian. They often discussed religious matters, and Mr. 
Lincoln's attitude towards such things was very reverent. His knowl- 
edge of the Bible was considerable, and he frequently used in his speeches 
quotations or incidents taken from Holy Writ. I have often heard my 



WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 25 

mother say that when he was greatly troubled by business worry, per- 
sonal sorrow or domestic friction Mr. Lincoln would sit in a rocking chair, 
swinging back and forth, looking out of the window, and singing old- 
fashioned hymns. His voice was not very good and his ear for music 
not of the best, yet he seemed to gain much solace, my mother thought, 
from the old songs. Curiously enough his favorite was the old hymn 
containing the lines that were to be brokenly sung by many a dying 
soldier in the awful pen at Andersonville (I quote from memory) : 

' There I can bathe my weary soul 
In seas of heavenly rest, 
And not a wave of trouble roll 
Across this peaceful breast.' " 

Mr. H. E. Barker, probably the oldest as well as one of the largest 
dealers in Lincolniana in the country, whose home is in Lincoln's old 
home town, Springfield, writes June 11, 1910: "Aside from what I 
have read of Lincoln's religious views, I have talked with many of his 
early acquaintances and am now settled in my belief, first, that in his 
young manhood he was skeptical, even to the point of writing an article 
in defence of his views which he read to a circle of friends gathered 
in a store here in Springfield. I made a search for this manuscript but 
it could not be found. It Is reported that a friend thrust it into the stove 
and destroyed it. His law partner Herndon was of the same or greater 
skeptical nature, and so did not help Lincoln to the light. Later on, 
under grief at his children's deaths and the burden of the war, he un- 
questionably turned back to the teachings of his boyhood and plainly evi- 
denced his belief In God, and showed the confidence of fellowship with 
him. I firmly believe that Lincoln, for at least three years before his 
death, was a Christian. 

I am obliged to ' take stock ' in the statements that he attended 
Spiritualistic seances — his nature was peculiarly suited to experiments 
along that line. But he never became one of them, and it is no reflection 
on his character that he grasped at anything that might help him. I 
think that Pennell's little pamphlet on ' The Religious Views of Abra- 
ham Lincoln ' comes as near giving a correct estimate as anything I 
have seen." 



26 WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELIGION 

In i860 Mr. Alban Jasper Conant, now living in New York, 
painted Lincoln's portrait at Springfield, and during the winter of 1861- 
62 resided at Washington — Attorney-General Bates being his subject 
this time. The artist therefore had many opportunities for studying 
the Martyr-President. In reply to a letter of inquiry sent him, his 
daughter Mrs. Carrie Conant Smith, answering for her father and in his 
own words, writes June 2, 1910: "I attended the same church with 
Mr. Lincoln in Washington, sat behind him for many months; nobody 
was more attentive than he to the services. When he left Springfield, 
after his election, he asked the prayers of the people, that he might have 
the guidance of the Almighty in all that lay before him. He was far 
above the conflicting ideas of creed, and I heard him say, when he 
found a church that taught the teachings of Jesus Christ, he should join 
it." 

In line with the last statement given above is one made by Major 
J. B. Merwin, now of Middlefield, Conn., who enjoyed the friendship 
of Lincoln for thirteen years, and has delivered several lectures on va- 
rious phases of his career. In a short communication received in October, 
19 10, he informs me that he heard President Lincoln make a statement 
of like import to the Hon. Henry C. Deming, member of Congress from 
Connecticut during the Civil War. Major Merwin also vouchsafes the 
following information: "I knew Mr. Lincoln intimately from 1852 
on to the day of his assassination — dined with him that day. He came 
to be one of the most profoundly Christian men I ever knew. He had 
no religious cant about him at all. In regard to the matter of seances, 
I think he did say that from all he could gather the spirits made his 
friends such consummate fools, ' that if they could rap, they would 
rap their skulls.' I heard and saw Mr. Lincoln pray, often. How 
could any one stand up under such awful burdens as he carried without 
Divine aid? He made no mistakes. He was divinely guided, and 
asked — begged — for such guidance, conscious of his own need of help 
beyond any human aid." 

In sharp contrast to the above, is the following from Mr. C. F. Gun- 
ther, a leading collector, of Chicago: " In reply to your letter would 
say that in my opinion and belief I am sure that Mr. Lincoln was not a 
Christian. In a conversation with his son Robert some thirty years ago. 



WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 27 

he incidentally remarked to me that some people were talking about his 
father's religious convictions, saying ' that his father was like many other 
men; he did not take any interest In church matters.' Mr. Herndon 
also says the same thing: 

" There is no uncertainty in Mr. Lincoln's religion from the fact 
that he did not believe enough in the theology of the churches to iden- 
tify himself with them. This is saying a good deal when a man does 
that in a town the size of Springfield from its infancy in this country. 
That is the whole truth, which is as simple and certain as any truth can 
be. The pressure upon the martyred president to declare himself a 
Christian was very great. Delegation after delegation of the clergy 
waited upon him to fatigue him If possible into a declaration of posi- 
tive Christian belief, without success. These are the facts and ought to 
close the question. I believe Mr. Lincoln was what we call In modern 
days a Rationalist. In certis, unitqs; in diibiis, libertas: in things cer- 
tain, unity; In things doubtful, liberty." 

Mr. Wayne Whipple of Philadelphia, author of The Story Life of 
Lincoln, one of the best of those books called forth by the Lincoln cen- 
tenary, The Heart of Lincoln and other Lincolnlana, has this to say, 
writing September 8, 191 1 : " About Lincoln's religious belief, I hardly 
know what to tell you. I do not believe that he was a ' skeptic or an In- 
fidel ' as Herndon would have us believe. That was only one of the des- 
picable things Herndon tried to say against the memory of Abraham 
Lincoln. Mr. Robert T. Lincoln told me once that Herndon was jeal- 
ous of his great partner who had done so much for him — because Mr. 
Lincoln, as President, would not give him a lucrative government posi- 
tion. Herndon drank so much that he became Irresponsible, and finally 
a tramp In the streets of Springfield, Illinois — after Lincoln's death. 

If Lincoln was an unbeliever, many of his utterances were un- 
deniably hypocritical — like his farewell to the people of Springfield on 
leaving then to become President, his letter to Eliza Gurney, the Quaker 
lady, the letter to widow Bixby, the Second Inaugural address, and so on. 
He professed a deep change in his religious life after his boy Willie 
died in the White House. He often prayed and asked others to pray 
for him — and he was a constant reader of the Bible. As to his ortho- 



28 WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELIGION 

doxy I can't say, of course. He was confessedly superstitious, and be- 
lieved in signs and ' presentiments ' — he had a strange dream the night 
before he was shot, and talked about it in a strange way to his Cabinet 
that last day. He did allow a Spiritualist woman to talk with and try 
to comfort him after Willie's death. But his heart was right before 
God and he believed in prayer." 

The following is from Mr. J. McCan Davis, of Springfield, now 
clerk of the Supreme Court of Illinois. Mr. Davis was collaborator 
with Miss Ida M. Tarbell in her Early Life of Lincoln, and has written 
much of him. In a letter dated May 2, 19 10, he says: " I think all 
biographers agree that Lincoln was not an orthodox Christian. He was 
not a member of any church. His religious conceptions, like all else in 
his life, appear to have been simple and elementary. He believed in 
a future life and in an all-wise, beneficent, omnipotent God, as untouched 
by dogma or creed as the ' Great Spirit ' of the untutored savage. Read 
his Fiirezvell Address delivered here on his departure for Washington, 
and you will discern the breadth and depth of his religion — a religion 
that embraced all mankind. His farewell address is one of the classics 
of the English tongue — it is both a poem and a prayer. I doubt very 
much the stories about his attending spiritualistic seances, though I am 
not prepared to dispute them." 

Another writer worthy of special mention, is Mr. Frederick 
Trevor Hill of New York City, author of Lincoln the Lawyer, Lincoln's 
Legacy of Inspiration and other interesting Lincolniana. Mr. Hill 
writes April 22, 19 10: " In my opinion Abraham Lincoln was a Chris- 
tian in the highest sense of the word. I think his views of Christianity 
were too broad to be confined to the limits of any particular creed or 
dogma. I am not sufficiently familiar with the tenets of the Unitarian 
belief to express an opinion as to whether or not his views conformed to 
that particular sect. I think it highly probable that he did attend one 
or perhaps more Spiritualistic seances. I think it was some time between 
1855 and 1865 that there was special interest in both England and Amer- 
ica in what is generally termed Spiritualism, and there were some very 
clever people then holding seances, and although I have not any positive 
evidence, one way or the other, before me, I should think the chances 
were that Lincoln, like a great many other men of inquiring mind, took 



WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 29 

interest enough in the subject to attend a seance or two and observe what 
happened. That Lincoln was a Spiritualist is absurd. There is not the 
slightest evidence of any such thing." 

The oldest collector of Lincolniana in the country is Captain O. H. 
Oldroyd of Washington, D. C, whose collection is in the house in which 
Lincoln died. Under date of October 24, 1910, Capt. Oldroyd writes: 
" The religious views of Abraham Lincoln have been the subject of dis- 
cussion ever since his tragic death. Some have claimed him to have 
been a Christian, while others, with equal positiveness, declare him to 
have been an infidel. He surely, when a young man, read " Smith on 
Infidelity," which might have made him somewhat skeptical regarding 
the Christian religion, but his views concerning the Bible later became 
changed, and, in my opinion, he became a firm believer in God. His 
religious views differed somewhat from others, but his implicit faith in 
God can best be judged by his acts. He willingly subscribed to the 
greatest law laid down by the Master: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy strength, and 
thy neighbor as thyself.' 

He made frequent appeals to God in his public utterances during 
the great war period, especially in his address on the Gettysburg battle- 
field, the noblest document known to our history. Who can read his 
second Inaugural Address and say that Abraham Lincoln was not a 
Christian? " 

Another large collector is Mr. Charles W. McLellan of Champlain, 
New York. He writes June 6, 19 10: "I lived in Springfield some 
years and knew Mr. Lincoln as one will know everybody in a small place, 
and as to his religion — he attended the First Presbyterian Church — his 
family always. I frequently sat in the pew near theirs — if he wasn't 
zealously active in church work, he was regarded by everybody as being 
better, showing more of the Christ spirit in his intercourse and thought 
for others, than many who were. Whatever his views were in early 
years, and which you refer to as being ' hard to get at,' it is very clear 
and known that in the few years he was in Washington he became, 
through suffering, through the agony of personal affliction — through the 
necessity of his ' opening not his mouth ' when he was ' reviled and slan- 



3° WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELIGION 

dered,' the most religious man of the centuries. And to talk of his 
religious views, is to discuss the views of the Apostle Paul when he stood 
by and held the garments of those w4io stoned Stephen. 

The truth as to Abraham Lincoln's religion I think is not hard to 
get at. I agree with John Hay who knew him better than anyone 
else — his remark was, I think, that ' he was the greatest man since Christ.' 
If he attended Spiritualistic seances it was because he was in such deep 
affliction at the loss of his son Willie, that he was willing to grasp at 
every straw of comfort." v« 

Mr. Judd Stewart of Plainfield, New Jersey, is another large col- \^ 

lector. He has also published much Lincolniana, and is well known to ^ 

the devotees of the Lincoln cult. In a statement dated October 12, V 

1910, he writes among other interesting things: " Lincoln himself, in ' JP 
my opinion was an inspired implement for the use of the Supreme Being y 
in working out the destiny of the human race : He himself perhaps only } 

occasionally realized this, but I believe that at times he inwardly felt his VJl 
power and laughed at the orthodox view of matters. When he told the » 

delegation of ministers that if God wished him to emancipate the slaves, VJ 
It was a roundabout way of telling him (Lincoln) by sending the message f 
through Chicago, there was a nicely concealed jest at their idea of the rw 
way the Supreme Being works. When he told the Cabinet that he ^ 
wanted their views upon the text of the Emancipation Proclamation, not ^ 
upon its expediency, that he had promised God to issue the proclamation h ! 
upon certain conditions, I think it showed his intimate contact with the 1 k" ^ 
Supreme Being." ^ S\y 

Mr. D. H. Newhall of New York, formerly a collector,7has also . V 
been a student, as witness the following dated April 15, 1910: "I Q / 
have been more or less the last fifteen years a close student of Lincoln. \> 
It IS my opinion that while he was a Christian in the common acceptation / 
of the term, he was not a religious man, and I can find no record of his 
ever having definitely subscribed to any of the prevailing creeds. In 
other words, while not a religious man, he was not an atheist." Novem- 
ber 4, 1910, he adds this: " You ask me to state my opinion of Lincoln's 
religion. Most of what has been written on this subject seems to me to 



WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELIGION 3 1 

be merely special pleading, the writers trying to make Lincoln what they 
think he ought to be instead of weighing the evidence and judgmg from 
it alone My own opinion is that Lincoln was an unreligious man, and 
that he gave little thought to religious matters. There is some evidence 
however, that with increasing care and responsibility came some meas- 
ure of religious conviction. He may have attended spiritualistic seances, 
(so have L perhaps you have) but I don't think there is a scrap of evi- 
dence to support Mrs. Maynard's or Fayette Hall's claim that he was a 
Spiritualist." 

The following is from Mr. J. O. Cunningham of Urhana, Illinois, 
who knew Lincoln before the Civil War and has published his recollec- 
tions of him. Mr. Cunningham states, November 8, 1911: " In an- 
swer to your interrogatory, ' What do you think of Abraham Lincoln s 
religious views— Do you believe him to have been a Christian? I would 
say that from what I have heard him say in the many speeches of his 
delivered in my hearing, I never had a doubt but that in all of his views 
alon- religious lines, he was in full sympathy and belief with the views 
heldly Christians the world over. From this you will readily conclude 
that in my hearing no word was ever dropped by him inconsistent with 
such views. On the contrary all his arguments along the line of opposi- 
tion to slavery were drawn from the standpoint of Christianity, and with- 
out that as a basis for his conclusions his arguments would have been 
without foundation. I never heard him say in so many words that he 
believed in Christianity, but he always talked as if, m his opinion, that 
' went without saying,' as the expression is often used, and needed no 
specific declaration. 

At one time, while in attendance upon our court, and being de- 
tained here over the Sabbath, he attended religious services at the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, as if such was his practice. I hope I shall be 
understood as holding the opinion that he at all times, without so express- 
ing himself, was a believer in Christianity, himself when the great burden 
of the National existence rested upon his shoulders, invoking that faith 

for his support." 

John W. Starr, Jr. 

MILLERSBURG, IPA. 



32 WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 

[To Mr. Starr's paper can be fittingly added an extract from the 
sermon of Rev. John Wesley Hill, at the (M. E.) Metropolitan Temple, 
New York, on February 12, 18 12. — Ed.] 

Providential men are priceless. Their careers are the beacons of 
human progress. Their thoughts and deeds are the richest legacy of 
mankind. They are lights kindled upon the dome of the centuries, il- 
lumining the mental and moral atmosphere of the world. History is the 
story of their epochal deeds, and civilization the lengthened shadow of 
their exalted souls. Serving most, they are the greatest. They come at 
great intervals, representing vast issues, founding imperishable institu- 
tions and wielding an immeasurable influence. Only about once in a 
hundred years does some solitary prophet stand in our midst unannounced, 
proclaim his message, fulfil his mission, and then vanish as mysteriously 
as he arrived, leaving behind a memory half mortal and half myth. 

Victor Hugo says, " The summit of the human mind is the ideal to 
which God descends and man ascends. In each age, three or four men of 
genius undertake the ascent. From below, the world's eyes follow them. 
' How small they are,' says the crowd." But on they go, by scarped cliff 
and yawning abyss, through storm and cloud and night, until they reach 
the summit, where they catch great secrets from the lips of God. We 
must look yonder, above the cloud line of history, if we would see them. 
Theirs is a select circle of picked personalities. There is no primacy 
among them. Genius is equal to itself. They are all the greatest. 
There is no method for striking the balance between Abraham and 
Moses, or Homer and Shakespeare, or Cromwell and Wellington, or 
Washington and Lincoln. 

They were Providential men. It is not easy to recognize a prophet. 
They do not wear the same robe nor work in the same role. The sheep- 
skin mantle of John the Baptist is no more necessary to a modern prophet 
than is the bow of Ulysses to a modern soldier. Prophets come upon 
different missions: one as a patriarch like Abraham; another as a law- 
giver like Moses; another as a warrior like Joshua; another as a dis- 
turber and avenger like Elijah; another as a reformer like Luther; 



WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 33 

another a regenerator like Wesley; another as a patriot like Washington; 
another as an emancipator and deliverer like Lincoln. 

Someone has said that " A saint is a good man dead one hundred 
years, cannonaded then but canonized now." It was the Galilean who 
said, " A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country." This 
is the history of all prophets. Stones have been their bed and bread. 
Lincoln was no exception to the rule. In his day he was slandered and 
maligned, criticised and cartooned, assailed and assassinated. 

Thus it has ever been. Aristides was banished because he was 
known as " the Just." A monument now stands upon the spot from 
which Bruno started heavenward in a chariot of fire. John Bunyan 
penned the " Pilgrim's Progress " in a dungeon. Wellington was 
mobbed in the streets of London on the anniversary of the battle of 
Waterloo. Scipio Africanus, who defeated Hannibal at Zama, was 
arraigned by a factious mob and condemned to death. He repelled his 
accusers by reminding the people that it was an anniversary of Zama, and 
then he was permitted to go into voluntary exile, where he died. 

Yesterday we called Washington a fastidious aristocrat, and Lincoln 
a buffoon. To-day we set these men on Olympus with the gods and speak 
of them as patriots and prophets. For living prophets we have epithets; 
for dead ones, epitaphs. About living prophets we have opinions, about 
dead ones we have judginents; but they must be dead a long time — so 
dead as not to hear one word of praise, so dead that what we see is a 
specter rather than a palpitating personality. They must be dim, far 
away shadows, coming and going at midnight and at midday, taking up 
no space, disputing no ambitions, contesting no claims, awakening no 
resentments — so dead that we can get credit for magnanimity in the ex- 
pression of deferred gratitude; so dead that where we have begrudged 
bread we may lavish beatitudes. 

Better to recognize and honor these peerless toilers while they are 
in our midst than to wait until they become myths. Could Lincoln In his 
day have heard the faintest echo of the tumultuous applause which now 
greets his name, the Incomparable burden which crushed his heart would 
have been lightened, and the solitary night through which he passed 
would not have been starless. 



34 WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINXOLN S RELIGION 

In the midst of the vituperation and abuse, the cartoons, caricatures 
and cahimny through which Abraham Lincoln passed, he found his self- 
conscious rectitude the one unfailing source of comfort and support, a 
fortress so invulnerable that he could defy the forces of opposition which 
were raging about him. Seated in this secure and serene height of pro- 
tection, he wrote those immortal words which are as applicable to his 
worthy successor now in the White House as they were to himself, " If 
I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this 
shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the best I 
know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing it to the 
end. If the end brings me out right, what is said against me will not 
amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swear- 
ing I was right would make no difference." 

It is too soon to measure Lincoln's real greatness. We must stand 
back from the mountain if we would behold its magnitude! The work- 
men on the walls of St. Peter's could not see the full glory of that temple 
which sprang from the brain of Michael Angelo and crowned the hills of 
Rome. Neither can we fully appreciate the symmetry and magnificence 
of the great personality that has risen in our midst and blinded our eyes 
with the brilliancy of his achievements, — a man in whom the great quali- 
ties blended like the commingling of many streams, — patience without in- 
dolence; meekness without stupidity; courage without rashness; caution 
without fear; justice without vindictiveness; piety without pretension; 
reason without infidelity; and faith without superstition, — elements so 
mixed in him that great nature might stand up and say, " This is a man ! " 
Aye, and such a man that " Taken all in all, we shall not see his like 
again ! 

It is diflicult to study providential characters in the cold light of his- 
tory. The perspective is disproportioned. Washington has been trans- 
formed into marble or transfigured into myth. The fact that he never 
told a lie has been almost buried beneath the monstrous lies told about 
him. And so to-day a coterie of little critics are engaged in retouching 
the face of Mr. Lincoln, — smoothing out the seams, modifying the 
irregularities, painting him into artistic beauty and attempting by the deft 
touches of fancy to rob the world of the real Lincoln, and set up a 
historical phantom in his place. 



WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 35 

Providence decreed the poverty of his early life. Born in a hovel, 
walled on three sides and open on the fourth to the universe, reared in 
penury and want; no chart except his own untutored mind; no compass 
except his own undisciplined will, — yet through that poverty he struggles 
on and on toward his destined day. That was the poverty in which the 
germ of manhood grows unrestrained by the demands of luxury and un- 
tainted by the poison of prodigality. It was the poverty of plain food, 
rough clothes and clean soil, — the poverty' in which genius grows, where 
fortitude is developed in wrestling with the forest, and men are lifted 
into immortality by the " arduous greatness of things achieved." His 
school days were limited to a few months and his books to a few 
volumes; yet Providence wrought that little library into the foundation 
of the great character that was being fashioned. Dr. Holland says, 
" The poverty of his library was the wealth of his mind 1 " It was like a 
little mountain ravine through which the flood rushes with greater fury 
on account of its narrowness. He did not go through the University, 
but two or three Universities went through him. His Harvard was 
before the old-fashioned fireplace, where he would stretch out, from one 
side of the room to the other, and under the flickering light of the pine 
knot, read and figure and study. His writing tablet was an old pine 
scoop shovel, upon which he would write with a burnt stick; then scraping 
the shovel clean with his knife, he would fill it again, — thus literally 
scooping the ideas into his head. An old note book still exists in which 
appears one of his problems in weights and measurements properly 
solved; while below there appears in a boyish scrawl, an original rhyme: 

" Abraham Lincoln, 
His hand and pen. 
He will be good. 
But God knows when." 

God did know when; for that boy, buried in the solitude of the 
wilderness, was being prepared for the day when his hand and pen would 
repeal the cruel edicts of a thousand years, strike the shackles from four 
million slaves, open the way for the march of civilization and make it 
possible for every man beneath that flag to be absolutely free. 

His time was rapidly approaching. Already the clouds afar off 



26 WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELIGION 

were gathering, but he saw them not. No figures were seen by him upon 
the dim horizon of that future in which he must play a pronounced and 
providential part. "The insulted flag; garments rolled in blood; the 
sulphurous smoke of battle; gory heaps upon desperate battlefields; an 
army of slowly-moving, crippled heroes; graveyards as populous as 
cities; " the Emancipator, — and the tragic scenes of his own martyrdom 
were in the cloud, though he saw them not! Through three wars we 
had triumphed. Our population had increased from three to thirty mil- 
lions and our national domain had expanded two million square miles. 
Boundless in resources, rooted in a soil more generous than the valley of 
the Nile, environed with mountains of silver and gold, irrigated by rivers 
like rolling lakes and beautified with lakes like inland seas, possessed of a 
natural basis for the greatest continuous empire ever established by 
man, — orphaned of the solemn inspiration of antiquity, — yet compensated 
in area for all that was lost in age, the young Republic, confident and 
strong, towered among the nations of the earth, — the admiration and 
astonishment of them all. 

But underneath our apparent prosperity there smoked the volcano 
of unrest. From the South arose the voice of woe. Slavery was 
sovereign of soil and soul; the auction block was red with blood; flowers 
festooned fetters; planters prospered by making merchandise of men; 
children were chattels; mothers commodities; souls were listed on the 
Stock Exchange, and the South feasted and fattened on unrequited toil ! 
The Missouri Compromise had barred this monster from the North, but 
we were drifting in the dark, seeking to chloroform a volcano,— to arrest 
an earthquake by administering the opiate of compromise! Finally, 
stricken with dismay and seized with the wild delirium of treason, state 
after state seceded, the Southern Confederacy was organized, and for 
the first time in the history of the world, the oppressors rebelled. 

And what a rebellion it was! Commanding more territory than 
any state in Europe save one; buttressed with impenetrable mountain 
fastnesses; with munitions of war the most perfect and millions of men 
impatient for the conflict; with leaders of confidence and renown, trained 
at the Nation's expense; strengthened by secret sympathy throughout the 
North, and encouraged by the outspoken favor of foreign cabinets and 
courts, — the Confederacy thus planted, equipped and oflicered, goaded 



WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN S RELIGION 37 

by greed and urged on by hatred, rejected all offers of peace, spurned all 
extensions of clemency, and rushing into the arena of war appealed to 
the arbitrament of the sword ! 

But instead of finding a truckling carpet knight, absorbed in 
braiding gold lace, the South found a man six feet and four inches tall, 

with serious aspect and an air of command, the man prepared for the 

great emergency — Abraham Lincoln, the rail-splitter of Illinois. Con- 
fusion surrounded him. He found an empty treasury, impaired credit, a 
scattered army, a depleted navy; and ov-er and against this, a rebellion 
the most thoroughly organized, splendidly equipped, ably directed, and 
terribly purposed known in the annals of war. Yet all undismayed, 
" with malice toward none and charity for all," holding onto God with 
one hand and the people with the other, he slowly stretched up to the 
vast undertaking, until he stood Atlas-like, with a whole world of re- 
sponsibility upon his shoulders, and standing there in the wondering gaze 
of all nations, he toiled with such patience and wrought with such power 
that he demonstrated his call of God, for nowhere else could he have 
acquired the ability indispensable to the performance of his mission! 
Changing from serene to severe, from grave to gay, yet never for a mo- 
ment losing sight of his one great, overmastering purpose to save the 
Union, he measured so precisely the public sentiment that when he ad- 
vanced the public was by his side, and through four long years of want 
and woe and glory, he continued to advance until one redeemed and 
glorified flag floated over all the land! 



/ 



.' Bibliography of Lincolni^ma 
Pertaining 4,0 Abraham Lincoln's Heliglous Beliefs 

The Later Life and IJellcioue Centlments of 'braham Lincoln. 

I^ctiiro by Kev, James A. HeedC^crlbnor's July 1Q73) 
-3 /brahain Incoln a Spiritualist? Dy Hottle C, r.aynard 1Q91 
brahaa Lincoln » 'as He a Christian? P^y John. '.. Fonsburg 1893 
Religious Views of Abraham Lincoln. By Orrin H./'ennell 1G99 
'''he FCGllglon of Abraliara Lincoln, Correspondence Betwoon Gen. 
Chas. n. T. Collls r^nd Col. Fobert C Ingersoll 1900 
brahan Lincoln: His Fellglon. Hy Robert ". Reeves 1901(?) 
The Copperhead, (r.incoln a r.plrltuallst) 

/ Lecture by r. Payette Hall 190f? 
Abraliam Lincoln. (Lincoln's Belief In a Plvlne Providence). 

'n /dvlross by J. F. Pownl. g February lo, 1903 
Lincoln— ?Iie Ohoson of God. 

A Sunday I^lscourse by Rabbi Joseph Krauskoph <^/ll/OG 
jsay on Lincoln s "as He m Inspired Prophet? 

ny r.ilton r. ncott 1906 
>rahaa Lincoln's Religion. 

/ Sunday Lecture by Rabbi J. I^eonard Levy Feb. 7,1909 
The Religious Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

' wermon by Rev. Arthur 0, Prltchard February 7, 1909 
The Religion of 'braliau Lincoln. 

/n /ddress by "llson Il.nachus February IP, 1909 
.)rahara Lincoln. ( Jiincoli.'s Religious r.ystlclsn) » 

An Address by ",. richechtor February Ifl, 1909 
The Righteousness of Lincoln. 

A neraon by Rev. "avid J, Durrell February 14, 1909 
ijraliam Lincoln's Religion. By l-ladlson 0, Peters 1909 
-. incoln' s Use of the Bible. By 3, Travena Jackson 1909 
j?lie Religion of .'braham Lincoln. By Geo. A, Tha^'-er 7.909 
Mncoln.TThe Moral Advances In Lincoln's Political Coarser) 

3y / ndrew -" . "raper 19 9 
K-icklos and Lincoln After Gettysburg j or, braham Lincoln's 

Religious Faith. A^ldross by Gen. J. F. Rustlingo/s/lO 
The r.oul Growth of Abrahaiii Lincoln. By John IIcKlroy 1910 
The Pa 1th of 'braham Lincoln. 

An Address by :'.aj. T^rn. K. I^ambert r/r2/09 Pub. 1911 
i\8 Li.iooln an Infidel? By Garl T. T-ettsteln 



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